The counters don’t prove helpful, so I get down on my knees and crawl around the baseboards, hoping for a gap big enough for me to squeeze through. I give a cry of triumph when I find a patched spot with a piece of plywood. If I’m able to bust the wood off, it should be just big enough for me to squeeze through.
I shove the lighter into my pocket and crouch down under the counter. I lay on my back in the dirt and kick the plywood with both feet. It splits down the middle with a satisfying crack. A few more solid kicks and I’m able to peel the wood the rest of the way off the walls. Chunks cling to the sides and the corners, but screw it.
I get down on my belly and slither in the dirt. I slide one arm though because trying to fit both of my shoulders through would never work. Then I fit my head through the hole, followed by the other shoulder. I grab handfuls of grass and use them to pull my body the rest of the way through.
Covered in dirt, a couple hundred spider webs and grass stains, I stalk into the forest. The early evening light throws shadows all around me, but unlike the previous night, I’m no longer scared of them. My brother is in danger and that’s the only thing that matters.
Urgency causes me to pick up the pace. I twist in all directions trying to find a sign of Sam or Declan. I’m jogging by the time the clearing where the tornado hit comes into view. I'm so focused on seeing through the half-light and foliage that I don’t see the big ass hole in front of me until it’s too late.
The next thing I know I’m airborne, then I land awkwardly on my ankle, the sharp pain shooting up my leg. I crumple, falling sideways to try and take the weight off of it. The light from the lighter does little to illuminate the area so I curl into a ball, my sinuses tingling in an effort to keep the tears of pain and panic at bay.
The tell-tale sound of footsteps sends ice shooting through my veins.
chapter fourteen
SULLY
The sound of footsteps comes to a halt and I hear someone or something rustling in the grass at the top of the hole. I cower against the earthen wall, my ankle throbbing, my entire body shaking with the adrenaline coursing through my system.
Red peeks his head over the corner and I feel faint with relief. “Oh my God. Oh my God, I’m so glad it’s you.”
He kneels down, flashing his flashlight around the hole. “What did you get yourself into here?”
I hold up the lighter and he jumps backward, holding a hand up to his face. “I have no idea, but I’d be eternally grateful if you could help me get out of this. I have to find Declan.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll find him,” Red says.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” I yell. “You wouldn’t happen to have a rope or something that you could throw down here, do you? Or, if you think you could reach, I’ll grab ahold of your hand and pull myself up.”
“I don’t have any rope and I’m not sure if these old bones would be of much use to you. Why don’t you just sit tight while I find Declan?” he asks.
“No!” My fingers pull at the exposed roots and slick mud, hoping for a foothold. “Please don’t leave me here. I have to find Declan. My brother is out here somewhere and I can’t let them get hurt. You have to help me!”
He moves with shocking speed, dropping to his knees and gripping the lip of the hole with his fingers. His face is gaunt in the light of the moon and I don’t know if it’s the cast of shadows or the tilt of his lips, but his face has taken on a menacing air. That suspicion is confirmed when he says, “Silly girl. No one is going to help you. Just like no one helped me.”
My brain trips over itself as it attempts to comprehend what Red is saying. He circles around the hole which makes me feel increasingly dizzy. I manage to get my bearings and then I notice the blood on his clothes and the deep scratch on his face.
“What happened to you?” I whisper.
“Now that’s a good question,” he says, his lips spreading into a sinister grin. “One I think you should know since it involves your kin, after all.” My brow furrows as he continues. Then realization dawns and I wish I could forget everything that he’s saying. “Fifteen years ago, Declan, his mom, dad, and me took a group of folks on a routine hunt. The winter was harsh that year, but there was a herd that made for good game. It wasn’t supposed to be a big thing. Just a few days in, a few days out. Piece of cake. We didn’t expect the storm. The snowfall was unreal. It was the worst winter storm Indiana had ever seen. And we were stuck right in the middle of it with no way out.”
I can’t help but think about a fourteen-year-old Declan being stuck in the woods during the middle of a snowstorm where he must have watched as his father died. I think of the somber man who gave me the shirt off his back to keep me warm, the man that took me on the most romantic date of my life just to impress me. Tears spill down my cheeks because I know Red isn’t telling me these things to save me. He’s telling me because he knows that I’m right where he wants me.
“There was an accident,” Red recalls. “Some members of the group were injured when one of the trees snapped from the weight of snow and ice. It trapped a couple of them, myself included. Declan’s daddy was one of the trapped ones and your Poppa Joe. I would have never made it out alive. Not with the temperatures dropping the way they were, but Declan was special. That boy was fast and strong like you wouldn’t believe.” Red leers at me. “Though I suppose you’re pretty acquainted with him now aren’t you? Anyway, we sent Declan in the direction of town, though we all knew none of us would be alive by the time he brought help back.
“We were there for three days total. Do you know what that does to a man? The fear of death. A slow, agonizing death. You reach a point where you’ll do just about anything to stay alive. You’ll make hard decisions. Take lives. Anything. Kill or be killed,” he murmurs, looking off into the distance.
“What did you do?” I ask, though I have a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach that says I don’t want to know. But I have to. For Poppa Joe. For Declan and his dad. If I’m going to have any hope of getting all of us out of these woods alive I need to know exactly what we’re dealing with.
He turns back to me, eyes red and flat. “By then we were sure Declan hadn’t made it out of the storm alive. It was just me, James, and Joe who remained. The others had died. Exposure and the like. The three of us were used to roughing it so we managed as best we could. It wasn’t enough. Nothing we could have done would be enough.”
My chest heaves as the sense of dread grows. I can’t look away from him even though I want to.
“I ate Joe first.” I stumble backwards and press my back against the cold dirt wall as he continues, “I managed to get free of the tree, but my leg was lame and I wasn’t going to go anywhere on a bum leg. Not trapped like we were and freezing to death on top of it. After Joe, well, I was just so hungry. Even hungrier than I had been before. I couldn’t eat enough. Thought I would die from the pain. James was out of it by then, nearly gone from the cold, so I ate him, too. But by then, I really started to enjoy it.” He speaks the last few thoughts like he’s relishing a fond memory, licking his lips and smiling a little, even.
At that, I lose my battle against the churning nausea in my stomach and vomit on the dirt floor. Of all the things I’d imagined, this was nowhere on the list. Poor Nonna. Poor Declan. This wasn’t even a man anymore, I realize, there is no humanity left at all. This…thing in front of me is a monster.
Red’s head snaps up as though he’s heard something. My heart thuds in my chest. Is it Declan? On one hand I want him to come, to save me again so that I know he’s safe, but on another, I can sense that something is terribly wrong here, and I don’t want him to come to my rescue if it is only going to get him hurt. Red is dangerous on a level that I can’t begin to comprehend and I’d rather die trying to keep him from Declan than to lose him.
